U-Tapao plans unfold

CHONBURI U-Tapao Airport will be developed into the third commercial airport to serve the capital Bangkok, according to Thailand’s National News Bureau.
The Royal Thai Navy and the Ministry of Transport have signed an agreement that will position the airport to relieve traffic congestion at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports over the next decade.
According to NNT, the Minister of Transport Prajin Juntong and Navy Commander-in-Chief Kraisorn Chansuvanich signed the agreement, Wednesday, in a move that will eventually see full commercial services at U-Tapao Airport by 2017.
U-Tapao has long been touted as an international gateway to Pattaya, which is around 30 km from the airport. It also acts as a back-up to divert aircraft when weather interrupts operations in Bangkok. (Usually early morning fog in the cool season.)
inside no 5The airport has one of the longest runways in the country . It was built by the Americans for its B52 bombers during the Vietnam War.
Over the last decade it has enjoyed a small role as an international airport for charters mainly from Russia and a daily domestic flights offered by Bangkok Airways that links Pattaya and Samui island.
Developing the airport as the second international gateway for Bangkok surfaced as a popular media topic in the late 1980 to mid-1990s,, but efforts to make progress failed mainly due to its status as a fully operational military base.
Now it is being touted as the third international gateway solution for Bangkok’s already congested airports. It’s a long shot and even after all the improvements, airlines will be reluctant to use for anything other than a plan B. That occurred in 2006, when yellow shirt protestors closed Bangkok airports in 2006 prompting a mass evacuation of tourists through U-Tapao airport.
The more practical outcome is that regional airlines will add services from major cities in ASEAN to U-Tapao for tourists visiting Rayong province’s beach resorts including Samet Island and Pattaya in Chonburi province.
Under the agreement, tthe existing passenger terminal will be extended and a new terminal will be built to open in 2017.
Supporting infrastructures will also be improved, to allow the airport to handle 3 million passengers per year.
Highway no 331 will have four traffic lanes,and a motorway will be constructed to link Pattaya, Map Ta Phut and U-Tapao Airport.
The new motorway will link to the existing Motorway 7 to improve traffic flow between Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports.
There is also talk of a high-speed rail link from Bangkok to Pattaya that would be extended to U-Tapao.
There is already a line to Sattahip port close to the navy airport that is used mainly for freight.
The second phase would span 2018 to 2020 and would see passenger capacity expand to 5 million a year.

sourced:ttrweekly.com